I ran three miles this morning, in the rain (ok actually, I didn’t run the entire way, I did what Chris calls “walunning,” which is a Couch to 5K thing where you run some/walk some — either way, I  covered three miles in 33 minutes, IN THE RAIN, so go me). I’m using an iPhone app called RunKeeper to track my time and distance, and while I love it, it means that I can’t mess with my iPod while I run — I have to start the music and then start the app and then leave the whole thing alone until I’m done walunning.

So I’m kind of at the mercy of the shuffle function on my iPhone to keep me moving for that three miles. I finally got around to actually creating a playlist for my runs, because the iPhone kept trying to make me run to “Hallelujah,” which is a beautiful song (especially the KD Lang version) but not exactly what you want to hear when you’re slogging up that last big hill. Ironically, of course, my running music is almost all songs from 20 years ago, which was the last time I ran regularly (although back then I was carrying a WalkMan with a cassette tape in it, which really makes me feel old, I’ll tell you what).

This morning, I was tired and it was raining and the whole process of getting the kids ready for school nearly did me in (SIX MORE MORNINGS AND THEN IT’S SUMMER THANK YOU JESUS). So when I left to run, I wasn’t really hoping for much.

But today, my iPod totally came through, choosing the perfect balance of inspirational rainy day music with a runnable beat. Thank god.

1. “Closer to Fine,” Indigo Girls

2. “Call Me Al,” Paul Simon

3. “Bad,” U2 (the live version, of course)

4. “Summer of Love,” B52s (”Orange popsicles and lemonade …”)

5. “Waterloo,” Abba

What’s on your personal playlist today? You know, other than “Waterloo,” because there’s no way you’re getting that out of your head now. You’re welcome!